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Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Busy day in the world of Baseball

By DavidKaye

Today was an extremely hectic day around Major League Baseball as players continued to sign with new teams. Today is also the deadline for clubs to tender contracts to their arbitrationally eligible players and many teams decided to let players walk.

The Baltimore Orioles improved their offense by signing veteran Outfielder Jay Payton to a two year deal worth $9.5 million. Formerly of the A's, Payton is a versatile player who can play all three Outfield positions and will fit in nicely in the O's lineup. After not tendering a deal to right hander Joel Pineiro, the Mariners went out and signed fellow right hander Miguel Batista to a three year contract worth a staggering $27 million.

Batista pitched last season in the desert for the Diamondbacks where he won 11 games and posted a 4.58 ERA. I'm curious to see what Seattle management thought was so enticing about Batista. I might not be a general manager, but when I take a look at Batista's career the fact that he's lost 11 more games than he's won and that he has a career 4.46 ERA doesn't make me want to offer him $9 million per season.

On a positive note, the Texas Rangers reached an agreement with former NL Cy Young winner Eric Gagne on a one year contract. He has battled injuries over the last two seasons, but it's nice to see that he'll get a fresh start in Arlington.

Marcus Giles has spent his entire six year major league career as a member of the Atlanta Braves. Unfortunately, next season Giles will be calling another city home after becoming another example of a player who was not tendered a contract by his team. The Padres seem like the most logical choice for him to land because his brother Brian is the teams Right Fielder.

The list of other big leaguers who were not tendered contracts include: the Dodgers Jayson Werth and Toby Hall, Atlanta's Chris Reitsma, the Yankees Aaron Guiel, the Mets Victor Zambrano and the Tigers ''playoff hero'' Alexis Gomez.